IRVINE – A quiet Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family went awry Thursday evening after the second floor of an Irvine house caught fire, resulting in burns to a man who tried to extinguish the flames and forcing the party to flee the home.

About 35 firefighters worked for nearly an hour to put out the fire, which began at 5:49 p.m. in the 10 block of Halfmoon and eventually reached the attic. There was “extensive damage to the second floor and attic,” said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority. No cost estimates for the damage was immediately available.

A family of four, including two children ages 1 and 3, were having dinner with another couple when the fire began, Concialdi said. The father ran upstairs and tried to extinguish it, but the flames were too severe – causing burns to his hair and eyebrows, as well as minor smoke inhalation.

The man was treated by paramedics but refused to go to the hospital, because he was worried about his family, Concialdi said.

Firefighters got the blaze under control by 6:36 p.m., Concialdi said.

Chris Haire is a general assignment reporter for the Orange County Register, covering everything from spot news to human-interest features. He also covers the cities of Garden Grove, Westminster and Stanton, and the ethnic enclave of Little Saigon. He has been with the Register since December 2012. He graduated with honors from the Columbia University School of Journalism, with a master's degree. Chris also has a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and would like, one day, to get a doctorate in history. (He's kind of nerdy.) He also loves Russian literature, including Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Solzhenitsyn.

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